United's 3 Amigos

Inside United sat down with team-mates and good friends Antonio Valencia, David De Gea and Javier Hernandez to get their views on an epic season...

Hello guys. So, let’s start with Antonio, how do you think he did this season?
DDG: I think he started the season well but then was injured – you got injured, didn’t you, (to Antonio) – and so he was out for a while. Then he started out once again trying to regain form and fitness and now he’s back to his best.

JH: It was no accident last season that he was named Player of the Year, because he is fundamental to us and has made the difference in various games. He hasn’t been in such incredible form this year but as David here mentioned, he’s unfortunately been out with that injury, which affects the form of any player and can make it pretty hard to fully recover your fitness. But we all know just what a quality player Antonio is and he’s been an important player for us again, just like everyone else has really. That’s the nicest thing about this team, everyone has a place here and an important role to play. I think that Antonio is now showing that in the four years he’s been at United he has earned and consolidated his place here as a result of hard work and a lot of effort, which is now paying dividend.

JH: David, it’s your turn!

DDG: Say the right things!

JH: In an interview recently I said that, like Luis Antonio, David had to be up there with the best players in the world right now. For me he’s the best goalkeeper in the world because we all talk about development and having to go down a certain career path and, of course, at his age many people would have been scared to give him the place he’s earned for himself. But I think that this season he’s really benefitted from being given the opportunity to play on a regular basis. He was first choice between the sticks and I think that any player in the world shows his true ability when he gets the chance to have a decent run of games in the side, and David has really shown his quality. He was voted the best keeper in the Premier League, so I’d say he’s doing very nicely thank you.

AV: He’s been perfect in everything he’s done. It’s incredible what he’s achieved. He’s shown once again just what an important keeper he is for Manchester United. He’s not far off breaking into the full Spanish national side. All his team mates here really hope that in two or three years he can be shot-stopping for Spain for the whole 90 minutes. He is proving here at United that he is one of the best goalkeepers around and I think that all of his team-mates are really happy and pleased to have David in such top form and we hope to be able to enjoy that for a long time to come.

And what about Javier?
AV: You can’t say any more about Javier! He’s been here now for three seasons and if you were to try and work out how many times he’s made the difference, it’s just incredible. What is it this year, 15 goals in 25 appearances? That’s something I think is really amazing. I’m really happy to have him as a team-mate and enjoy working with him every day.

DDG: As ‘Señor’ Antonio has already said, Chicha is very important both on and off the field for his bright and positive attitude.

You only have to look at how he goes about his work and how upbeat he always is. It inspires you to train and play hard and it’s a real pleasure to play alongside him and have him as a team-mate. In terms of goals scored per minutes on the field, I think he’s the best in the league, and that’s what it’s all about. He hasn’t had many good runs of games but whenever he has featured, he’s always scored and as a result picked up plenty of vital points for us.

JH: As Antonio was saying, it’s a real pleasure to have these two as team-mates as we can hang out together and speak to each other in our own Spanish language, which is nice and very important too. Of course, we get on well with our other team-mates too, as the three of us are doing OK with our English so we can communicate without any problem. These two lads are also important in the whole dressing room; they are real characters, you can learn a lot from them and we have a lot of fun.